Farms and Animals

The Hunger Challenge

One of the most important challenges of survival mode is staying well fed. Many basic foods and ingredients can be found scattered throughout the world, from apples and carrots to chickens and cows. Players are faced with the choice of harvesting foods for consumption or investing them by starting farms. Be careful not to use up all the resources in your area without saving some for breeding and farming.

Farming Basics

The easiest way to meet your food needs is farming. Crops like wheat, melons, and carrots are only used for food. Some other crops produce useful goods like dyes or paper. Wheat farms are the easiest to start because of the abundance of grass in most biomes. Some grass blocks drop seeds when broken and these can be planted to make wheat and more seeds.

Many players take the time to start a wheat farm right on day one. Growing enough wheat to meet all your food needs will take some time. Most crops need to be grown next to water. Buckets can be used to create canals and irrigate your crops.

Creating your First Farm

Lay out the boundaries of your farm with a fence. Fencing in the farm will prevent mobs from trampling your crops.

Grab a bucket, fill it with water, and irrigate your crops. Most crops need to be within 8 tiles of water to grow.

Craft a hoe and till the land before planting your crops. Plant potatoes, carrots, or seeds by right clicking.

Reap what you sow. Once the crops have grown harvest them by left-clicking. Torches can provide enough light for your crops to grow at night.

Breeding

When you have a pair of animals in Minecraft they can be bred to make more. Each animal has one or more favorite foods. Cows like wheat – if you feed two cows wheat they might breed and produce a calf (baby cow). The cows can then provide milk (using a bucket) or be killed for steak and leather. Pigs like carrots and chickens like seeds. For a complete list of breeding foods see the Minecraft Wiki.

Farming and Breeding Tips

Fences:

Don’t forget to fence in your animals or they may wander off. Don’t forget to fence in your crops or they might get trampled by mobs or animals.

Hoe:

Use a hoe to turn dirt or grass into usable farmland. For more information on crafting a hoe, visit the Survival Camp 2 thread.

Water:

Many crops require water to grow. Water source blocks can be gathered using buckets. Be careful – accidental flooding is a common problem.

Cooking Food:

Meats and some other foods become more nutritious when cooked in a furnace. Place the raw meat in the top slot and a fuel like coal or wood in the bottom slot.

Bone meal:

Bone meal can be used to fertilize your crops and increase growth rates. You can get bonemeal from killing skeletons.

Crafting Food:

From cakes and cookies to stew and pork chops take the time to prepare your food. Crafted and cooked food is more nutritious than raw foods.